Roll stand lock



J. M. OMALLEY ROLL STAND LOCK May 20, 1958 Filed March 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 la H 39 INVENTOR 44 o 42. 53 Joseph m.dmall-ey W J. ATTORNEY J. M. O'MALLEY May 20, 1958 ROLL STAND LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 14, 1955 INVENTOR Joseph 771. Omallcy p i v ATTORNEY United States Patent ROLL STAND LOCK Joseph M. OMalley, Worcester, Mass., assign'or to Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 14, 1955, Serial No. 494,026

1 Claim. (Cl. 29-1) This invention relates generally to rolling mills and, more particularly, to apparatus for clamping a rolling mill stand to its support.

In the construction of rolling mills, it is common practice to mount each rolling mill stand on supporting rails which extend transversely of the roll pass. This is done to permit the movement of the rolling mill stand transversely of the pass line to align accurately the grooves in the rolls and to obtain a perfectly straight roll pass. Transverse adjustment of the rolling mill stand is also necessary in order to permit the use of new grooves in the roll when the grooves being used become worn, particularly in multi-strand rolling. In the past, the roll stand has been clamped to its transverse supporting rails by use of large bolts. When it was desired to move the stand, it has been necessary to loosen these bolts. This was, as is evident, a time-consuming task and, :since down time in a steel mill is very expensive because of the fact that overhead and wages continue and because of the lack of production during the down time, it is desirable to keep this nonproductive time to a minimum. Various schemes have been evolved in the past for quickly clamping and unclamping the roll mill stands from their supports, but these prior art constructions have sufiered from many disabilities among which are the fact that they were very intricate and prone to get out of operation easily and the fact that they were very expensive. The present invention obviates the difficulties experienced with the prior art in a novel manner.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the present invention to provide a rolling mill which may be moved easily and quickly transversely of the roll pass and which,

at the same time, may be firmly clamped to its supporting members.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a clamping apparatus for a rolling mill stand, which is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a clamping means for a rolling mill which is operable hydraulically from a distance.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, the mode of its operation and the manner of its organization, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational viewot a rolling mill looking transversely of the roll pass, with portions in section, and

Figure 2 is an elevational view of a rolling mill embodying the principles of the present invention looking along the roll pass line.

Referring to the drawings, the rolling mill stand. indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown as mounted on supporting rails 11 and 12. The rolling mill stand is shown as a Z-high, closed-top type and ponsists of housings i3 and 14 supporting an upper r011 Patented May 20, 1958 15 and a lower roll 16. As is evident in Figure 2, a. hydraulic motor 17 is mounted between the rails 11 and 12 and serves to actuate the movement of the rolling mill 10, when such movement is desirable. Each of the housings 13 and 14 is provided at its lower portion with outwardly extending feet, the feet associated with stand 13 being shown in Figure 1 and indicated by the reference numerals 18 and 19. The foot 18 is engageable with the rail 11, while the foot 19 is engageable with the rail 12. The foot 18 is provided with a generally horizontal portion 20 providing a flat horizontal lower surface 21 while a similar horizontal portion 22 is provided for the foot 19 and serves to define a flat horizontal surface 23 therebelow. The foot 18 is provided with a vertical portion 24 defining a vertical inner surface 25 while the foot 19 is provided with a similar vertical portion 26 having a vertical inner surface 27. A bolt 28 extends vertically through the vertical portion 24 of the foot 18 while a similar bolt 29 extends through the vertical portion 26 of the foot 19. A clamping plate 30 is maintained on the lower portion of the bolt 28 by means of a nut 31. In a similar manner, a clamping plate 32 is maintained on the lower portion of the bolt 29 by means of a nut 33. The rail 11 is provided with a horizontal portion 34 having a flat upper surface which engages the surface 21 of the foot 18. This horizontal portion '34 is joined by a vertical web 35 to a broad horizontal portion 36 which serves to support the rail. A rail 12 is provided with a similar horizontal portion v37 having an upper surface engaging the surface 23 of the foot 19. The horizontal portion 37 is joined by a vertical web 38 to a lower horizontal portion 39, which serves to support the rail 12.

A spacing member 40 joins the rails 11 and 12 and serves to .hold them in fixed spaced relationship. To the center of the spacing member 40 is attached a support 41 on which is mounted a double-ended hydraulic motor 42 having a piston rod 43 extending toward the rail 11 and a piston rod 44 extending toward the rail 12. A spacing member 40 is provided with a hub 45 having a bore 46 extending horizontally therethrough through which passes the piston rod 43. A coil spring 47 resides in the bore 46 and remains normally under compression between a stop-member 48 attached to the piston rod 43 and the rail 11. An aperture 49 in the vertical portion 35 of the rail 11 permits the passage of the piston rod 43 therethrough. In a similar manner, a hub 50 is provided on the spacing member 40 adjacent to rail 12 and this hub is provided with a bore 51 in which resides a coil spring 52. The coil spring 52 is normally under compression between the vertical portion 38 of .the rail12 and a stop member 53 fixed to the piston 44. A lever '54 is pivotally-mounted between lugs 55 and 56 on the outer surface of the vertical web 35 of the rail 11. The lower free .end of the lever .54 is pivotally connected to the outer end of the piston rod 43 while the upper end is connected pivotally to a wedge A wedge '57 normally resides between the lower surface of the upper horizontal portion .34 of the rail 11 and a flat upper surface of the clamping member 30. The engaging surfaces of the clamping member 30 and :the wedge 57 are slightly inclined to the horizontal so that the wedge 57 is tapered in cross-section.

A lever 58 .is' pivotally mounted in its central portion to a lug 60 extending outwardly from the central portion of 'the'yertical portion of the web '12. The lower end of the lever 58 is pivotally connected to the outer end of the piston rod 44 while its :upper end is pivota'lly connected to a wedge .61 formed .in a manner similar .to thefwedge 57, and having .an inclined lower surface which engages an inclined upper surface on the clamping member 32 It should be noted in passing that the rolling mill stand 12 is provided with the usual appparatus for assuring efiicieut operation thereof. For instance, the rolls 15 and 16 are clamped longitudinally and adjustable axially by a clamping means 62, such as is described in the patcut to Myles Morgan No. 2,184,463. The upper roll is maintained in an upwardly-biased position by means of a hydraulic supporting apparatus 63, which is described in the patent application of Myles Morgan, Serial No. 393,341, filed November 20, 1953. The vertical positioning of the rolls is adjustable by means of screw-down 64 of the usual construction. The lower roll 16 is adjustable independently at each end by the actuation of shafts 65 and 66 which act through means such as is described and shown in the patent of Joseph M. OMalley No. 2,669,892. The rolls 15 and 16 are driven by spindles 67 and 68, respectively, through couplings 69 and 70 which are of a type designed to permit the rolling mill stand to be moved along the rails 11 and 12 without disturbing the driving connection between the spindles 67 and 68 and their rolls 15 and 16. Such a coupling is shown in the patent to Joseph M. OMalley No. 2,375,030.

The operation of the invention will now be easily understood in view of the above description. The rolling mill stand 12 and the rolls 15 and 16 are driven in the usual manner through the spindles 67 and 68, respectively. When it is desired to make certain adjustments in the mill, the mill is stopped and adjustments are made. For instance, when it is desired to move the roll 15 toward the roll 16, a screw-down means 64 may be actuated to do this. When it is desired to move one of the rolls 15 and 16 by very small amounts relative to one another, this may be done by means of the clamping means 62. At all times, the upper roll 15 is maintained in a floating position above the lower roll 16 by means of the hydraulic support 63. When it is desired to move one end or the other of the roll 16 upwardly or downwardly, this may be done by the actuation of the shafts 65 or 66. When it is desirable, however, to move the entire rolling mill stand transversely of the pass line, this may be done hydraulically by the actuation of the motor 17. First, however, the stand must be free to slide along the rails 11 and 12. In the normal situation, this would not be so because the coil springs 47 and 52 act on the piston rods 43 and 44, respectively, to maintain them in their innermost position. This means that the upper end of the levers 54 and 58 are in their outermost positions. The wedges 57 and 61 are, therefore, in their outermost position, tightly wedged between the rails and the clamping members. When it is desired to free the rolling mill stand of this clamping action, hydraulic fluid is introduced into the double hydraulic motor 42 from a remote source of hydraulic fluid, not shown, and this fluid, acting upon pistons, actuates the piston rods 43 and 44 and forces them outwardly of the motor. This action moves the lower ends of the levers 54 and 58 outwardly and, at the same time, causes them to pivot about their pivotal connections to the lugs 56, 55 and 60 and causes the upper ends of the levers to move inwardly carrying the wedges 57 and 61 with them. The inward movement of the wedges 57 and 61 causes the feet 18 and 19 of the rolling mill stand to rest slidably upon their rails 11 and 12. At that time, the rolling mill stand is free to move along the rails and the actuation of the hydraulic motor 17 will cause the rolling mill stand to move in the desired direction by the proper actuation of the controls of the motor 17, which controls are not shown in the drawings and do not form a part of the present invention. After the rolling mill stand 10 has been moved to its new position, the hydraulic pressure is removed from the motor 42 and the coil springs 47 and 52 become effective again to force the piston rods inwardly of the motor. This causes the wedges 57 and 61 again to move into 4 clamping position and the rolling mill stand is fixed to the rails in the desired manner.

A further explanation of the clamping action of the wedges would seem to be desirable. Referring to the wedge 57 and its associated members, it should be noted first that the foot 18 and the clamping member 30 form a fixed, more-or-less unitary construction, providing two surfaces separated by a fixed distance. The distance between the horizontal surface 21 and the upper inclined surface of the clamping member 30 is fixed and immovable. The horizontal portion 34 of the rail 11 resides between these two surfaces and has an upper horizontal surface engaging the surface 21 in sliding relationship. The horizontal portion 34 of the rail 11 also has a horizontal lower surface and between this horizontal lower surface and the upper inclined surface of the clamping member 30 is inserted the wedge 57. The wedge 57 has an upper fiat surface which engages the lower flat horizontal surface of the horizontal portion 34 of the rail 11 and a lower inclined surface which engages the upper inclined surface of the clamping member 30. When the wedge 57 is driven or forced tightly between the under surface of the horizontal portion 34 of the rail 11 and the inclined upper surface of the clamping member 30, it serves to maintain the foot 18, and rail 11, and the wedge 57 in a fixed, immovable association because of the tremendous friction forces between the engaging surfaces. These forces have, in practice, proved sufiicient to prevent the movement of the rolling mill stand 10 along the rails 11 and 12 during normal rolling operation.

While certain novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the de vice illustrated and in its operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

A base, a plurality of parallel rails on which the base is supported, each rail having a flange extending laterally thereof, the base having at least one foot engaged with each rail in slidable relationship, each foot having :1 laterally-extending member underlying and spaced from the flange of its respective rail, a wedge associated with each foot and rail and movable laterally of the rail to lock the foot and rail selectively in fixed relationship, the space between the flange of the rail and the laterally-extending member being of wedge-shaped lateral cross-sectional shape to conform to the shape of the wedge, a hydraulic motor situated between the rails and having piston rods, a lever pivotally connected to each rod, the levers being pivotally connected at one end to a piston rod of the motor and pivotally connected at the other end to a corresponding wedge whereby the wedge may be moved laterally of the rail and wedged tightly in locking relationship with the flange of the rail and the said laterally-extending member, and a spring normally urging the wedge into the said locking relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 721,047 Kennedy Feb. 17, 1903 1,926,358 Woytych Sept. 12, 1933 2,049,842 Kling Aug. 4, 1936 2,123,825 De Vlieg July 12, 1938 2,662,265 Pegard Dec. 15, 1953 2,673,386 Cross Mar. 30, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 453,407 Italy Sept. 15, 1941 576,015 Germany May 6, 1933 880,436 Germany June 22, 1953 1,085,587 7 France Feb. 3, 1955 

